Dispatch from the Future: Poems [Paperback]

Leigh Stein (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 24, 2012

"I love these poems." —Joe Dunthorne, author of Submarine
 
Funny, surprising and lyrical, these poems range from the deserts of the Southwest to the abysses of Facebook. From online dating to beauty pageants, Greek mythology to road trips, Leigh Stein gives us resilient young women in longing and in love.
 
Post-confessional—like Sylvia Plath raised on MTV, or Anne Sexton on Twitter—the poems seduce with a narrative hook or startle with a pop culture reference, all the while wrestling fresh meaning out of our fantasy-saturated modern lives.
 
Leigh Stein’s first novel, The Fallback Plan, was hailed as “beautiful, funny, thrilling, and true” by Gary Shteyngart (Super Sad True Love Story). A former New Yorker staffer and frequent contributor to its “Book Bench” blog, Stein is also the author of the poetry chapbook How to Mend a Broken Heart with Vengeance, and is the winner of the Amy Award from Poets & Writers magazine. She lives in Brooklyn.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Stein possesses a comic's honesty and sense of timing, simultaneously enchanting and dark, yet never cynical. She's already published a wonderful debut novel this year, but I think she's arguably an even better poet. —Publishers Weekly (Best Summer Books 2012)

 "These poems will charm the pants off of you with their irreverence, insight, and optimism" —Guernica

"By showing us that it’s possible to make something beautiful and funny out of our supposed follies, Stein rescues the present." —The Poetry Foundation

"A book as deeply sad as it is perceptively playful, Stein recreates her life, one full of unbounded wisdom and imagination weaving a tapestry of myths, memory, history, and pop culture, that new sort of collective memory we all share." —Vol. 1 Brooklyn

"The poems, like Stein’s debut novel, The Fallback Plan ... strike a powerful balance between humor and melancholy, reference and storytelling. A startlingly developed and fearless voice." —The Rumpus

“Leigh Stein's poems know how to laugh it off after a stunning tumble down a flight of stairs.”
—Rob MacDonald, editor of Sixth Finch

"Leigh Stein follows her lauded debut novel The Fallback Plan with an equally impressive poetry collection, Dispatch from the Future ... Guernica called the book, "poetry for poetry haters." I have to add that even admirers of verse will adore this volume." —Largehearted Boy

Praise for Leigh Stein’s previous book, The Fallback Plan:

“Beautiful, funny, thrilling, and true.”
—Gary Shteyngart, author of  Super Sad True Love Story
 
“Stein’s light, accessible, self-deprecating prose makes this coming-of-age story a pleasure.”
—Publishers Weekly
 
“Intimate, urgent, and laugh-out-loud funny. . . . Think Franny and Zooey. Think Goodbye, Columbus. Think of this book as your next great read.”
—Joe Meno, author of Hairstyles of the Damned

About the Author

Leigh Stein is a former New Yorker staffer and frequent contributor to its “Book Bench” blog. Her poetry has been published in numerous journals, nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and awarded the prestigious Poets & Writers Amy Award. Her first novel, The Fallback Plan, was published by Melville House in January 2012. She lives in Brooklyn, where she works in children’s publishing and teaches musical theater to elementary school students.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Melville House (July 24, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1612191347
• ISBN-13: 978-1612191348
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.4 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #887,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Leigh Stein was born in Chicago in 1984. She is the author of the novel THE FALLBACK PLAN and a book of poems, DISPATCH FROM THE FUTURE. A former New Yorker editorial staff member, she currently lives in Brooklyn, where she teaches drama to children. Other prior occupations have included: Manhattan coat check girl, legal assistant, spa receptionist, diner waitress, and Snow White impersonator.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars funny and eloquent April 10, 2013

By Kristen Malone

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I saw a positive write up of this book of poems on Volume1Brooklyn and thought I'd check it out. As a young woman in my mid-20s, I found her poems thought provoking and relatable. I look forward to reading other work by Leigh.

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely wonderful, mysterious, charming and enticing. January 16, 2013

By Erina Johnson

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Agree. You don't have to be a poetry lover to enjoy Dispatch from the Future. It is the kind of book that swallows you; pick it up and two hours later you will suddenly be startled by you cat and wonder aloud "where I am I?"

5.0 out of 5 stars Let's Go on an Adventure January 3, 2013

By Marigold Molly

Format:Paperback

Much like a Choose Your Own Adventure story, you have no idea where you are being led in Leigh Stein's poems. You just have to hold on and trust her to take you where you need to go. And trust her you should, because Stein takes you to the most amazing and wondrous places, and at the end of it you have no idea how you got there, so you reread the poem again. Slower. Trying to make sense of her dichotomy of softness and action.

Buy this book. Pick a page. Let Stein lead you by the hand into this brilliant world that she's created.